S19: Janel Parrish: Pretty Little Dancer

[radishcake]

Born in Hawaii, Janel started her career with a love for music. She entered and won a statewide singing contest at age 6 and soon followed that with being cast in the National Touring Company and Broadway Company of “Les Miserables” as Little Cosette. It wasn’t long before Janel’s Broadway experience and recognition led to acting auditions in Hollywood. While studying acting, Janel continued to train vocally, eventually adding piano to her repertoire. She also began writing her own music, which led to becoming the lead singer in a 3 girl pop group called “Impulse” as well as a recording deal with Geffen Records.

Currently, Janel can be seen as “Mona” in the top-rated ABC Family TV series, “Pretty Little Liars.” For her role she won the “Choice TV Villain” award at the 2012 and 2013 Teen Choice Awards as well as a TV Guide Award nomination. Her love of musical theater also remains. In 2012, Parrish returned to her theater roots in Over the Moon Productions' intimate presentation of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical “Spring Awakening” as Anna. In 2014, she hit the stage in “For the Record: Baz Luhrmann” as well as “For the Record: Tarantino.” Other television credits include “Drop Dead Diva,” “Hawaii Five-O,” “Heroes”, “Gepetto,” “Baywatch,” “The O’Keefe’s,” “The Bernie Mac Show,” “Zoey 101,” “True Jackson, VP,” and “The O.C.” She has also graced the big screen starring in feature films such as “Bratz: The Movie,” “One Kine Day” and “Knots.”

Dancing with Valentin "Val" Chmerkovskiy.

 

[luvthepros]

I hope Janel stays in to the end. I want to see Val dance!!!

[Uke]

The dance was good. She really worked it with plenty of energy and sass and I thought: Ohhh, she's a contender.

But then she went up to the skybox and started talking with Erin and I thought: Ewwww, Uh oh.

I don't know if she was playing her PLL character or if that's her real personality, but I turned off to her.

[spanana]

She had plenty of sass and definitely worked the dance.  Her actual jive technique wasn't great though, but it was good for week one.  Plus I thought Val had her deliberately contained to the stage to minimize how much she had to move.  Compare how much she moved versus how much Alfonso moved for instance.

 

But her personality will be polarizing for sure.  She has tons of fans from PLL so I'm not expecting her to go anywhere anytime soon, but she might not pick up new fans unless she tones it down a bit.   She comes off as one of those people that always needs to be playing a character.

 

Sorry Val, I'd be surprised if you got your mirrorball this season.

Edited September 16, 2014 by spanana

[lorikauai]

I thought she did pretty well this week. She seemed a little overly excited during the interview after she danced. If she's like that every week it will become annoying. It will be interesting to see how much of that was week 1 jitters and how much is her personality.

[tearbender]

I don't mind Janel yet and hope she sticks around long enough so hopefully we'll see some quality routines like the ones Val produced with Zendaya. I think the pre-show predictions of them being shoo ins for the finals were premature and didn't take her competition into account. She was always gonna have to contend with Mark and Derek's teenage dream partners and their fanbases, plus the potential juggernaut of Alfonso. Amber Riley she is not, who wasn't much better Week 1 IMO, but probably had the largest fanbase going into her season.

[Buggin]

I saw she favorited some tweet from someone WTF-ing that Sadie got 9s for her routine. Val needs to reign it in with her because she's going to turn a lot of people off if her attitude isn't positive.

[no1skittishkitten]

Because I love Mona on Pretty Little Liars so much (RIP you crazy evil genius), I'm rooting for Janel. I hope she can tone it down. I think she has a great deal of potential.

[truthaboutluv]

I saw she favorited some tweet from someone WTF-ing that Sadie got 9s for her routine. Val needs to reign it in with her because she's going to turn a lot of people off if her attitude isn't positive.

 

I just saw this on another site. I also saw how apparently the day of the premiere, a few hours before, she re-tweeted something about none of the other celebrities being any competition (guess Alfonso sure as hell shut that up). Yeah she definitely needs to be careful because between that, people's reaction to feeling like she and Val are trying to force some showmance, she may just be setting herself up for an early shock boot. 

[spanana]

I don't know about the latter, but the tweet she faved about Sadie was from Marlene King, the creator of PLL.  So I think Janel was just trying to fave tweets from her friends.  But she does need to be careful.  It's one thing to fave tweets from your friends where they are outraged about you being underscored or things related to your own performance.  Friends/family will always be outraged on your behalf.  That is just showing some sort of acknowledgement of your friends support and faving is certainly better than retweeting.  When it's just a straight dig at your fellow competitor and has nothing to do with you? Probably best to leave it alone.

Edited September 17, 2014 by spanana

[Uke]

I don't know about the latter, but the tweet she faved about Sadie was from Marlene King, the creator of PLL.  So I think Janel was just trying to fave tweets from her friends.  But she does need to be careful.  It's one thing to fave tweets from your friends where they are outraged about you being underscored or things related to your own performance.  Friends/family will always be outraged on your behalf.  That is just showing some sort of acknowledgement of your friends support and faving is certainly better than retweeting.  When it's just a straight dig at your fellow competitor and has nothing to do with you? Probably best to leave it alone.

 

Agreed, and if I might add, especially when followers don't know Marlene's connection to PLL or who a contestant's family or personal friends are. A lot of DWTS fans will follow all the stars and then unfollow as they are eliminated.

[truthaboutluv]

I knew the tweet was from Marlene and I know exactly who she is as I was a faithful PLL viewers until it got way too convoluted for me. That said, I know that was not the only tweet Marlene made about the show. I'm pretty sure she commented on Janel's dance positively, so she should have re-tweeted that. Just like Shay Mitchell, one of Janel's co-stars on the show tweeted how great she was and asked her followers to vote.

 

Re-tweeting that stuff is fine. I can't buy that just because a tweet is from family and/or friend, it doesn't occur to her that it may not seem very nice and in fact come across as poor sportsmanship for her, the person competing against these people, to re-tweet it. The fact is Marlene King is not the one competing on the show, she can tweet whatever she wants and no one, unless they're a fan of the show and follow her would even know or care about her tweeting that.

 

Janel's re-tweeting it though to many would seem like an endorsement and an agreement of her sentiments and that's where the criticism will stem. Because that's how twitter works. It doesn't matter if you're not the one who tweets it, by re-tweeting, people view that as an agreement and endorsement of that sentiment. And it's just not a good look for her to be re-tweeting tweets that are openly ragging on her competitors. I can tell you for a fact Amber Riley got tweets of support that weren't too friendly and nice but she only ever re-tweeted the ones that were simply supporting her and asking people to vote for her. 

Edited September 17, 2014 by truthaboutluv

[spanana]

Janel didn't retweet it to my knowledge, just fave it.  I also think she's probably not used to having this many people pay attention to what she tweets/faves.  I'm also not arguing with anyone that she needs to watch it.   Marlene can tweet whatever she want as a viewer.  Janel just doesn't need to respond to it.

 

What I mostly meant before is several of Janel's friends made jokes about how "A" was going to come for the judges for giving her lower scores and things of that nature.  Janel favorited a couple.  I understand that stuff to a degree because friends/family will always overreact in situations like this, whether it be to scores or eliminations or what have you.  It happens on every reality competition show.  I don't really have an issue with Janel favoriting some of that stuff because it's a way of acknowledging support from a friend/co-worker without looking like a complete ass and retweeting.  I really only take issue if the comment is solely about another competitor and has no baring on your own performance. 

 

Plus we know to some degree that Janel was disappointed with her scores because she made a comment on it in the backstage footage.  That was what was going on when kiss-gate happened. This is when I miss the days of the confessionals because you really got the raw reaction from the celebs/pros about what had just happened on the dance floor.  It gave you good insight into who were the whiners and who were the ones that had generally good attitudes, even when they messed up.

Edited September 17, 2014 by spanana

[kitcloudkicker]

I love Pretty Little Liars as my campy, guilty pleasure show so I had high hopes for Janel. And I still do - it was only week 1 after all, and I still think she has potential. But I figured out what it was that bugged - she comes off a little Rachel Berry-ish. It was like having Rachel Berry from Glee on Dancing With the Stars. 

Edited September 18, 2014 by kitcloudkicker

[OakGoblinFly]

I love Pretty Little Liars as my campy, guilty pleasure show so I had high hopes for Janel. And I still do - it was only week 1 after all, and I still think she has potential. But I figured out what it was that bugged - she comes off a little Rachel Berry-ish. It was like having Rachel Berry from Glee on Dancing With the Stars. 

 

That is it exactly - other than the "Me, look at me!" and slightly desperate "wining means everything" aurora you nailed exactly what bugs about her.  I hope she tones that stuff down and concentrates on her technique.

[SnarkyTart]

I love Pretty Little Liars as my campy, guilty pleasure show so I had high hopes for Janel. And I still do - it was only week 1 after all, and I still think she has potential. But I figured out what it was that bugged - she comes off a little Rachel Berry-ish. It was like having Rachel Berry from Glee on Dancing With the Stars. 

You nailed it with the Rachel Berry comparison.  I want to like Janel, I really do.  Not a PLL fan, and don't know of her character, but she seems like a pretty decent dancer and I definitely want to see more of Val (love him!).  Unfortunately, her demeanor in the celebraquarium was a turn off, as well as her BTS video on results night saying to Val that she thought her scores would be higher.  If she continues favoriting tweets that make nasty insinuations about the other competitors, I'm going to end up actively disliking her, I can tell.

 

Val's sure got his hands full with this one.  Good luck, Val.

[mrsmit7]

Great foxtrot by Janel & val tonight! adorable & really loved val's choreo

[OakGoblinFly]

I think she would be better served if she didn't try so dang hard - it reeks of desperation.  She's a pretty girl (especially when not slathered in all that make-up) has some natural ability - she should relax regarding the scores, trust her partner, and cool the forced romance .... it isn't doing her any favors.  That being said, I wasn't overly fond of the routine as it didn't feel very Foxtrot to me and that falls on Val - Janel performed her choreography adequately (though she has to learn not to pull so many faces). 

[spanana]

I thought Janel was much better last night, in terms of both her actual dancing and her overall persona.  I can't speak to how much of a foxtrot her routine was, but Val was also forced to choreograph to Call Me Maybe as well. 

 

Val said something in an interview last night that I thought was interesting.  He made a comment along the lines of he was still figuring out how far to push Janel in terms of mastering technique versus when to let things go so she can emotionally breathe in a dance.  I think he's figuring out that Janel is one of the better dancers here, but she's still not necessarily an amazing dancer.  She has decent skills, but she's not about to be on a list of the all time DWTS greats.  Which is fine, but in the past Val has always been the real stickler for technique.  He likes to try and push his celebs, where possible, into pro level routines and will harp on every last minute detail.  Look at his AT with Meryl from last season, which IMO was the past dance of the season (sorry Meryl/Maks fans).  Look at half of his routines with Zendaya, many of which he still dances on the regular with other pros.  Even with Danica and Liz, I think he pushed technique almost above all else.

 

I think Val's learning that he can't entirely do that with Janel.  She's a performer by trade and can put on a performance, but if he pushes her too far on the technique side she winds up losing her performance.  All this to say is I think Val is still sort of figuring out what works with Janel and what doesn't and it seems like he's taking a different approach this season from his last three.

[Uke]

I saw that too and it struck me as odd if he's just figuring that out.  All the pros have to find that balance when they get a star with reasonably good dance skills - the balance between technique vs performance.  None of the stars will perform with technical excellence - it's taken years for the pros, the stars won't get it in a few very rushed weeks. The pros have to find that sweet spot where the star can enjoy (and look like they're enjoying) their dance but get the techniques down "good enough" to avoid getting dinged by the judges.  I think that Val is such a perfectionist that "good enough" is never good enough and that can stress-out the star.

Edited September 23, 2014 by Uke

[spanana]

I agree with the fact that it's partly Val being a perfectionist.  I don't mean that any of his past celebs have achieved perfection technically, but Val in terms of DWTS has generally been technique minded above all else when he has a capable partner.  He's all about details.  That persona worked for some of his partners, and others, as you said, might get stressed out by his perfectionism.   Perhaps Janel falls into the latter category and she loses it when he gets too technique focused.

 

Also I think when you look at Val's past partners, he's had people with a relatively strong technical base.  Liz and Danica were never natural performers to me, but they were fairly good technicians largely IMO because they had a dance background to draw on.  So even if Val eased up on them, I don't think either were going to be very riveting performers.  Zendaya generally managed to be able to do both.  Usually Val could push her hard and not worry about it because she could deal with his intensity and still layer a performance on top of hard choreography.   This is also something Meryl could do and it's why I wish we could have seen what Val could have done with her on a week to week basis, but that's neither here nor there.

 

Janel IMO is a fairly natural performer.  She's a theatre girl that lives for being on stage.  I'm wondering if Val just originally thought she could do it all.  That he could throw ridiculously hard choreography at her and still get a great peformance out of her since she's so used to live performing.  Then maybe he realized she couldn't quite handle it just yet.  It might just honestly be that Val has gotten a little too used to getting partners that come in with strong technical skills.  The man hadn't even seen a 7 paddle since being paired with Kelly Monaco.  So he had gone three seasons without his partners scoring anything lower than an 8.

Edited September 23, 2014 by spanana

[Uke]

Hmmmm... I think you might have just explained what puzzled me watching Janel + Val's pre-dance rehearsal package. We were chatting on twitter about how Janel appeared to be acting silly and not taking the training seriously. What we saw might have just been her way of making Val ease up so she could perform. That kind of throws another light on the subject.

[OakGoblinFly]

I think Janel has the "performance" aspect of the dances down (with the exception of the pulling faces) - she was a sex-kitten for Bang Bang and quite elegant on Call Me Maybe.  She needs to work on her posture/technique as well as "letting go" .... sometimes I can see her thinking about the next step and not about being in the moment.  If she has a solid foundation (which I think she could pick up quite quickly) she can the relax into the dance  ..... I think that's what I find off-putting about her, she's trying to hard and she's tense when she dances (thereby making me tense) ..... compare this to Alfonso or Lea who just relax into the dance.

[mrsmit7]

I think performance factor is much more important than flawless technique because its something that you cant really teach, at least not during this 10 wk show. take danica & liz for example vs amber. Danica & liz had great technique but couldnt hold a candle to amber who oozed stage presence.

So, i dont think Val is trying to be less of a technician because janel cant handle it, i think she is fairly capable technically, i think its more that he realizes that she has that performance factor, which is special, & doesnt want to dampen it by drilling her into being concerned about bing a super technician and causing her to lose her performance quality. Danica & liz didnt have much performance factor so one of the only thing val could focus & improve upon was drilling their technique.

I think janel goofing off is just trying to make val smile & relax. he has said himself multiple times that he gets super intense & focused sometimes and needs a partner that loosens him up, makes him laugh, and reminds him sometimes to relax. Sherri & zendaya were really good at that and i think janel could be too.

[OakGoblinFly]

I think performance factor is much more important than flawless technique because its something that you cant really teach, at least not during this 10 wk show. take danica & liz for example vs amber. Danica & liz had great technique but couldnt hold a candle to amber who oozed stage presence.

So, i dont think Val is trying to be less of a technician because janel cant handle it, i think she is fairly capable technically, i think its more that he realizes that she has that performance factor, which is special, & doesnt want to dampen it by drilling her into being concerned about bing a super technician and causing her to lose her performance quality. Danica & liz didnt have much performance factor so one of the only thing val could focus & improve upon was drilling their technique.

I think janel goofing off is just trying to make val smile & relax. he has said himself multiple times that he gets super intense & focused sometimes and needs a partner that loosens him up, makes him laugh, and reminds him sometimes to relax. Sherri & zendaya were really good at that and i think janel could be too.

 

 

True, however, I do think that she needs work on the technique - at least the fundamentals; once she has those under her belt Janel could lose herself in the dance (ala Alfonso and Lea) ... right now she's (1) trying to hard and (2) thinking about the steps.

[Andiethewestie]

New poster hello everyone!   Interesting discussion. I think Janel and Val's  America routine  worked rather well.  We got to see more of Janel doing steps independently of Val, and when they came together the partner dancing, particularly on the upper stage was strong.  .  In the second half she did lose a little steam,  she looked a little beat at the end of it, but to be fair, it was full on, no breaks in the music to take a breath, with a lot of focus on her to carry it.  I am also impressed with Val's choreography, yes it borrowed from West Side Story, but it was a fresher version, one I wouldn't mind seeing on Broadway.. he definitely has taken notes on how to mount a musical production, loved the background dancers stop motion sequences.

 

I agree that even though Janel has dance training, her focus in the performing arts is singing and acting,  so maybe not quite a triple threat, but she definitely has charisma when she dances.  On the other hand, when you compare her to say Alfonso, who clearly has a definite style of dancing that he excels at, it will be interesting to see which of the two is most comfortable at taking direction and learning.

 

This week they have Rumba and no question this team will "sell" the dance well. But it will be interesting to see if the technique matches the performance.  

Edited October 3, 2014 by Andiethewestie

[spanana]

I definitely thought Val's staging was very clever.  While I agree that the number was very high energy throughout and Janel performed it really well, I still don't think there was a whole lot of actual dancing happening.  Especially during the upper stage portion.  However that was the stronger half of the dance from a performance aspect.  I agree with the fact that Janel lost a little steam in the latter half when they went down to the main dance floor.  Jake on Afterbuzz called out the same move that I had noticed in particular, which is towards the very end when she's supposed to go down into this lunge position and Janel never quite got there.  It was one of those things where I feel like if the dance had been 10-20 seconds longer in the segment where it was just Janel/Val on the main dance floor people might have come away with a slightly different impression of the whole thing.  But I also agree that the whole thing was very nonstop and full on.

 

I also expect that Janel will sell the rumba really well and Val will make her look as good as possible, though I have no idea what her story may be.  I still maintain I don't really think Val has pushed Janel much on the technique side of the equation as yet and I have no clue if he plans to really.  She keeps posting about how much she loves the rumba so far, so it doesn't sound like she's really struggling.  But I would also like to think the judges will hold her to a higer standard after last week.  Then again, still no Len this week which means no technical judge to really call that crap out.

[missysays]

My perception of Janel isn't just that there isn't a whole lot of dancing in her numbers as others have mentioned but that even her performance quality doesn't really register for me. Here's what I mean. I actually agree with Carrie Ann- even though she put it horribly. Janel's performance tends to come mainly from sexy expressions on her face. I don't see her performance all that much unless the camera is pulled in tightly to her face and even then her facial expressions are mainly sexy- but not commanding sexy more cutesy, pouty lips sexy. Yes, she's bright and vivacious but it doesn't really go beyond that- there's no nuance or power. I compare her performances to say an Amber Riley and Amber's best performances seemed to come from her whole body and emanate from her like she was an extension of the music. Janel's performances don't seem to come from her core. Yes, she's executing steps but they don't seem to flow naturally from her. There are little pauses here and there. She does have a lot of fight and moxie so she's able to get through the dances and you think she's done a bang up job but if you re-watch her dances there's no there there in her steps.

 

Even in West Side Story, there's a moment where she does these feisty stomping moves and flounces her skirt. That move isn't difficult- it's basically standing in one place and moving your skirt around and she surely stomps with enthusiasm but it doesn't seem to flow naturally it actually feels a little amateurish to me. If you look back at the original movie and Rita Moreno's own version of stamping movements and use of a full skirt it's so much more naturally sexy and sort of oozes out at you.

 

With all this critique, I could still see her winning though bc the other cast members aren't that strong this season (except for Alfonso and sometimes Lea). She’s also probably getting a ton of support from the PLL fans. I just feel like she's getting a lot of praise that wouldn't necessarily be coming her way in a tougher season. And Alfonso has been saddled with some very weird song/dance style combinations in the past couple of weeks. His momentum has been dragged down and her competition momentum has been bolstered over the past week or two.

Edited October 3, 2014 by missysays

[Andiethewestie]

The momentum will all return to Alfonso this week with the Carleton he's doing. But I wonder if he is putting that in too early?  I do think Alfonso has to really work on Ballroom technique, even more so than Janel. His Quickstep wasn't good. Sloppy footwork and dropping shoulders, if Len was around he would barely muster a 7 for that.  Janel on the other hand has some really good things going in her technique, but she does have to keep improving. 

[Uke]

I still maintain I don't really think Val has pushed Janel much on the technique side of the equation as yet and I have no clue if he plans to really. 

 

This makes me curious because Val has always been a real stickler for proper technique. Janel certainly has the capacity to learn (and probably excel) at exquisite technique but Val seems to be emphasizing more sexiness and personality with her.

[spanana]

This makes me curious because Val has always been a real stickler for proper technique. Janel certainly has the capacity to learn (and probably excel) at exquisite technique but Val seems to be emphasizing more sexiness and personality with her.

 

I think Val might just be trying a different approach?  Let's put it this way.  Val has always been a big stickler for technique, but has it gotten him a win?  It's gotten him to the finals a few times and you can argue whether or not he was robbed in S16, but he still doesn't have a trophy to show for it.  So maybe he decided to take a different approach with Janel and just focus on her performance ability and his choreography skills?  He's also said a few times in interviews, as far back as pre-season, that he wanted to focus on their chemistry, which IMO he should just let naturally happen instead of trying to force it.  I really think Val just has a different mindset this season.  Or maybe he feels since the competition field is fairly week on the technique side, he doesn't have to push her that hard?  It's not like Janel has to face off against any Meryl types.

 

I do agree Janel is just coming off better by virtue of being in a weak field and it may just get her to a win.  I think it's too soon to count Alfonso out though as we are only going into W4.  Alfonso has work to do technically as well, but I think he's also had a harder dance haul so far.  Janel and Alfonso have only gone head to head in dance styles the first week out with jive, which Alfonso clearly won IMO.  He then followed it up with samba and quickstep to Janel's foxtrot and jazz.  Momentum is going in Janel's direction, but it's also really early in the season.

[Uke]

There were certainly a few issues in S16, but his freestyle was a confusing mess, as I recall. I guess Val is learning to play the game. Unfortunately given the way the show is run and the behavior of the "judges", increasingly the game seems to reward showmanship and pizzazz moreso than the pursuit of excellence in the dancing.

[no1skittishkitten]

I feel like the show is setting up a Derek/Val showdown via Beth and Janel. They've had Janel and Beth doing the same dance every week (they both have rumba this week), and I don't think it's a coincidence both couples got perfect scores last week.

[RemoteControl88]

I feel like the show is setting up a Derek/Val showdown via Beth and Janel. They've had Janel and Beth doing the same dance every week (they both have rumba this week), and I don't think it's a coincidence both couples got perfect scores last week.

I've noticed that to. What's funny is the last few seasons it ends up turning into a Hough/Chmerkovskiy battle with the fans (emphasis on the fans).  Maybe the producers threw up their hands and said " you know what why even pretend that this isn't happening...fine...here you go....they will go head to head each week and you fans can battle it out."

Edited October 4, 2014 by RemoteControl88

[spanana]

It's not like it's anything new.  S16 came down to Hough versus Chmerkovskiy.  S18 came down to Hough versus Chmerkovskiy, though Maks as opposed to Val.  It's not exactly an unknown storyline for the show.  Then again Derek hasn't finished any lower than 2nd place since S14, so it's always going to be Hough versus someone.

[RemoteControl88]

All the talk about whether Val is "playing the game" or has less emphasis on technique? I really don't know if that is the case.  I look at Janel & Val's jazz as an oddball week.  I just feel it wasn't as polished (only saw 1 error at the end of the dance) or maybe had less content because they had fewer days to create it and perfect it.  I don't look at it any deeper than that at this point.  I guess we'll see this coming week with the content of their rumba?

 

I enjoyed their jazz though.  I thought there were some great lifts and Janel kept up with Val very well.  It was dynamic and fun to watch.  At the end of the night it stood out to me as one of the better dances.  All 9's would have been fine by me.  I didn't come away with feeling like anyone should have gotten a 10 tbh.

 

As for the amount of content in the dance...I thought there was enough.  It was a full dance routine.  Jazz on DWTS is the "whatever the hell you feel like doing" dance.  I've seen country dancing called jazz (Sadie/Mark), pop/hip-hop called jazz (Sasha/Snooki), flowy performance pieces called jazz (Derek/Kelly).  I really just comes down to whether you like the style or not.  Of the one's I've listed above the only jazz I didn't like was Sadie & Mark's and that's b/c I'm not the biggest fan of country dancing/music so it doesn't appeal to me.

[Andiethewestie]

Broadway can very easily be part of the Jazz genre in dance. West Side Story in particular has a distinctive jazz orchestration. 

 

Just to digress a bit on West Side Story and why it is perfect for the Jazz genre in dance..   The composer Leonard Bernstein and choreographer Jerome Robbins were involved in the conception and production of the play and the movie.  As explained.  In the book "They're writing about songs of Love"  both Bernstein and Robbins were part of the modernist movement, composers and choreographers with classical training who wanted  to create a New American Music, that is both serious and popular. Bernstein's score is all about urban cool.  Robbins intermingled modern dance and ballet that on Broadway was not about a folk style and but about urban jazz.  

 

 

 

So, the reason the Sadie/Mark Jazz was confusing, is that country music is opposite to jazz at it's core. 

Edited October 5, 2014 by Andiethewestie

[Andiethewestie]

This makes me curious because Val has always been a real stickler for proper technique. Janel certainly has the capacity to learn (and probably excel) at exquisite technique but Val seems to be emphasizing more sexiness and personality with her.

 

I think Janel's technique is similar to Nicole Scherzinger. Nicole was a great performer, but quite rightly, Len gave her lower scores up to week 5 when she started to really show a facilty for technique with the Tango.  Nicole then took a dip again in week 7 with Len when her Samba was very shy on technique, but performed really well.  Musical theatre performers capture the essence of the style really well, the technique sometimes takes a bit of back step.

 

 I think that's massively different than Mya who came into prominence from her tap dancing and was easily mastering dance styles even with a sprained ankle. Mya was probably one of the best Latin dancers the show has had.  

[missysays]

I think Janel's technique is similar to Nicole Scherzinger. Nicole was a great performer, but quite rightly, Len gave her lower scores up to week 5 when she started to really show a facilty for technique with the Tango. 

It's been a while since I've seen Nicole's dances but from the get go I think she had cleaner technique in terms of her ability to execute her steps with sharpness adn precision. Also her leg, arm, and foot placement as well as the control she had over her ability to develop her arms and legs from her core had more control and clarity than Janel. Plus, Nicole had the ability to generally stay in sync with Derek in the step-based sequences.

 

I feel sometimes with Janel that she doesn't have full control of her technique yet. It's still early in the season so she may very well develop this later on.

 

From a performance perspective, I feel like Janel hasn't learned to fill out the space with her body movement yet. It may be that she's small in stature but her horizontal movement across the floor isn't as stretched or as outreached as it could be. I hope that's something she can work on. Other small in stature competitors like Shawn Johnson or Sabrina Bryan really filled out the space with clean lines. I think that will go a long way towards making Janel a more complete dancer and not just reliant on her facial expressions.

 

BTW, Mya was one of the best dancers DWTS ever had. She was jipped big time in her season.

Edited October 5, 2014 by missysays

[Andiethewestie]

 I have to disagree about Nicole. I voted for her, so I rooted for her from the Tango onwards. I thought that Pretty Woman Tango was fabulous . But for me, she was a terrible Waltzer, in both the Viennese and the Slow Waltz, but she faked it well.  Her footwork was all on the balls of her feet so that she didn't get the proper lift from the thigh that you would from a heel lead to up on the ball step sequence.  The first Rumba that she did was good, but her footwork was sloppy and perhaps tentative. She also really disappointed on the Samba.  A lot of standing and posing, a couple of standing basics but no real technique. Mya, Zendaya's second Samba, and Stacey Keibler had the best technique in terms of really being clean and precise on the Samba.

 

Stacey's basics, whisks, botofogo, and more advanced technique like the bachacata and the samba roll.really hold up as a gold standard from Season 2.   Nicole did not do any advanced steps, and in an interview Derek told Nicole that it was too advanced for her.

 

Also on the Quickstep, (that was actually a broadway routine), and the Foxtrot, the dance position was very far apart.  I wondered why Derek chose to keep that dance position so wide, it maybe that Nicole felt more comfortable but they were so far apart it feels like they never moved from the learning position to the actual dance position.  

 

For me, Nicole's best dances by far from a technique perspective were the Jive, 50's Paso and the Argentine Tango. They were in a class on their own. If a dancer can do two or three great dances and the others well enough, then I'm a fan. 

 

So far, Janel's Foxtrot, her dance position in hold is very good, there's no spaces between her and her partner except in promenade position. She also centres quite well so her turns are tight, light and controlled.  We have only the opening Jive to compare to Nicole, and while Nicole's was better in execution, the technique utilized was very much the same, with not a lot of "filling" up the space, since Jive, and Salsa etc. aren't meant to fill the space like a Ballroom Tango. To fill spaces,  I've noticed on the more club style dances Derek likes to do flips, swings, runs and slides to meet the contestant who is stationary, and then they start dancing.

 

I also thought Janel did a very good job of carrying the lead as an actor and dancer on the Jazz piece.  Everything was sequenced to be a re-action to her action, and that can sometimes come off as a weak link, but she held her own. So far Janel's Jazz,  Alfonso's Jive, and Tommy Chong's Argentine Tango for me are the best of the season.

Edited October 5, 2014 by Andiethewestie

[missysays]

I don't think Nicole was the best technician either- esp if you start comparing her with other past celeb dancers on DWTS. But I do feel that she had more inherent clean-ness in her step execution than Janel has shown in her 3 dances. Janel's foxtrot in hold positioning might have been good but I think that had a lot to do with Val helping to position her in hold. The performance of the foxtrot was light and lovely but there was a moment when she does a back layout and then twist in Val's arms and she almost doesn't make it around or hunches over in a funny way.

 

Alfonso's jive and Tommy's AT have been my favorite performances so far this season as well. And while I think Janel's Jazz was a good dance it didn't transport me the way Alfonso's jive did. I was very conscious of the stops and starts in her Jazz (And in re-watching I'm very conscious of how she didn't completely lose herself in the dance either. Look at the very end pose- instead of throwing her arms back and enjoying the final end pose on Val's knee- she pauses and re-arranges her face into a pout. It took me right out of the mood of the dance.) Whereas in Alfonso's jive there were no breaks in movement that took my mind outside the enjoyment of the dance. For me, the mark of a great performance is when I forget about watching for steps but am able to lose myself in the interpretation of the music. In Tommy's dance, the beginning of the AT captivated me and made me forget to watch for steps. There is a little break at one point where his face bumps into Peta's arm or side in a funny way but otherwise I stopped paying attention to the moves and just felt the mood of the dance. I couldn't quite lose myself in Janel's Jazz performance bc I was conscious of her setting up for steps or movement. It may be because the dances that Val has created so far have been pretty fast-paced. She almost doesn't quite have room or space to completely lose herself in the music bc she's rushing to get to the next move. Maybe this week's rumba with a more slow-downed pace will allow her to start to learn how to hold out and finish moves and truly embody the music in a deeper way.

[spanana]

I can't speak to Nicole because I didn't pay that much attention to her dances, but I think with Janel in some ways it's too early to say.  Tomorrow should post a fuller picture of her dance ability.  We're only going into week 4 and this is the first time she's being asked to do a dance with any hip action.  Though I suspect hip action won't be a problem since she has some hula dance experience.   Also the rumba is a lot slower and more controlled than anything she has been asked to do yet far.

 

Plus for me, while I thought her jive technique first week out was pretty bad and her movement in general was very sloppy, it was also first week out and it's hard to say what was just nerves.  Most of the celebs are shakier that first week and it's possible she was much better in rehearsal and then just lost it on the performance stage.  She seemed to settle down once she got past the nerves.

 

I can't really draw any conclusions from Janel's jazz because that was her bread and butter.  She plays lead roles on stage all the time.  If she didn't excel at that then she's in the wrong line of work.  Which is also why I kind of laughed at the judges hyperbole about all the doors that were opening for her based on that performance.  Doors where?  There isn't a huge demand for musical theatre performances on television and she already scores lead roles in stage productions.  

Edited October 5, 2014 by spanana

[missysays]

I can't really draw any conclusions from Janel's jazz because that was her bread and butter.  She plays lead roles on stage all the time.  If she didn't excel at that then she's in the wrong line of work.  Which is also why I kind of laughed at the judges hyperbole about all the doors that were opening for her based on that performance.  Doors where?  There isn't a huge demand for musical theatre performances on television and she already scores lead roles in stage productions.  

 

Well, there is a reason that Janel is on DWTS. If she was really getting the "adult" lead stage roles all the time then she wouldn't need something like DWTS to rejuvenate that part of her career (if that's one of her goals for coming on the show). If you look at her resume (which could also not be quite up to date), her only lead stage roles were when she was a child and they weren't main roles like an Annie but secondary roles within a larger cast. Young Cosette only really has one song in Les Miz and only a handful of scenes at most. She hasn't been able to leverage any of that into an official adult stage career- except for some local musical shows with her boyfriend and their friends. (Though maybe she made a conscious choice to focus her adolescent and young adult career in TV.) Sure she has background and performance experience in musical theater but if you compare her performance ability to say a Sutton Foster (Bunheads)- there is no comparison. To say that it's hard to judge her performance in that Jazz bc it's her strength - I actually could tell the difference between what a "real" Broadway performer would have brought to the role vs what she did last Monday. I think a really legitimate seasoned adult Broadway female lead would have made more of an impact in that number.

 

This is all to say that I feel as if Janel has a lot of room to grow even in something that can be seen as her strength and I agree it is very early in the season so she'll have that chance to grow. Based on DWTS standards she's already really good in how she's managing and performing the dances so far. It'll be interesting to see what other numbers she'll get a chance to perform. This does make me curious to know how she hopes to use the DWTS platform. I wonder if she is trying to get back into Broadway musical theater, if she's just trying to up her recognizability factor so that she can get other LA-based acting jobs, or if she's trying to launch a singing career. (I think she also writes and plays music.)

Edited October 5, 2014 by missysays

[spanana]

I assumed it was the latter that she's likely trying to up her recognizability to get more jobs in tv/film, particularly lead roles.  She may still be part of the PLL cast officially and she will continue to appear in flashbacks, but all that is wrapping up for her.  Janel has gotten a fair amount of acclaim for her performance in PLL, but in terms of the industry she's still seen as a secondary player and not a lead.  My assumption is that she's trying to make that jump from sidekick to lead.

[luvthepros]

.......... His (Alfonso) Quickstep wasn't good. Sloppy footwork and dropping shoulders, if Len was around he would barely muster a 7 for that. ......

Alfonso may have not had good posture for the Quickstep but I didn't really see the sloppy footwork you mentioned. One thing I did notice, however, and the judges did not say anything about was the body contact Alfonso and Witney had during their runs while facing each other. Julianne certainly should have mentioned that but, alas, not one word. Celebs usually can not master the body contact, one of the most difficult tehniques of the Quickstep but Alfonso and Witney did a great job.

Edited October 5, 2014 by luvthepros

[Andiethewestie]

I watched Alfonso's feet, and he makes the mistake of a lot of new contestants, the forward steps push off the balls of the feet rather than a heel lead, and some of his side chassez don't close cleanly to make the step sequences well defined. That could be adrealin, but dance steps to be clean must be completely finished. It was a good dance, posture lost energy at points, but as soon as he's finished the "ballroom" section he's 100% committed again in the "soul" section.  I think he needs to make the transition seemless. We know he's a great hip hop rhythm and blues dancer, the challenge for him is to make the new stuff he's learning as good as the stuff he's known since he was a child. 

 

I agree that Janel has much to learn, but the Jazz routine shows she has come to dance.  I think we will see a steady improvement from her. This week will be Alfonso's 40 no question about it, it's the Carleton that everyone wants to see.  

Edited October 5, 2014 by Andiethewestie

[RemoteControl88]

http://www.people.com/article/janel-parrish-dancing-with-the-stars-blog-rumba

[Andiethewestie]

Well Janel and Val didn't go the showmance route but they still managed to bring a lot of heat to the Rumba, she looked amazing, and the dance worked really well for them. 

[Andiethewestie]

So exciting, Janel is getting an assist from Sharna and Lindsay for the BURLESQUE routine.   http://instagram.com/p/t8z50EmpzE/

[no1skittishkitten]

I'm rooting for Janel, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't super nervous about her doing Burlesque. DWTS appeals to a certain demographic and I'm not sure how they're going to respond if Artem veers towards racy with this.